Together lowers its minimum second charge loan size to £20k

By Bridging Loan Directory 17th January 2024

Specialist lender Together has today launched a new second charge smaller loan proposition, designed to help brokers’ customers consolidate their debt.

The finance company’s current minimum second charge loan size of £30,000 will be reduced to £20,000 from today to meet the needs of more clients.

These may include people who may have spent on credit and store cards, or taken out loans over Christmas, and may be looking for smaller loan sizes.

They are also available for a variety of other purposes, including clients looking to carry out home improvements.

Two and five-year fixed rate products are offered to Together’s Prime Plus customers – those who have had no demerits in the last 12 months – with rates starting at 12.20% (two year) and 10.35% (five year).

The product also comes with a lower arrangement fee, which has been reduced from £1,495 to £995, and commission remains unchanged at 2%.

The new smaller loans can be secured against non-standard properties, while Together will also consider self-employed clients or those with complex incomes.

Rates for loans of between £50,000 and £250,000 have also been reduced and start from 8.99% for the lender’s five-year fixed Prime Plus product and 9.24% for customers who have had up to three demerits in the past 12 months.

Research carried out by Together among its broker partners, has identified a demand for smaller loans from borrowers who may be struggling to pay off unsecured debt during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Credit card debt rose to £68.9billion in November 2023 – 8.6% higher than the year before – as interest rates on repayments reached new heights of nearly 24 per cent, according to the latest Bank of England figures.

The data revealed that the average representative credit card interest rate in the UK was 23.9 per cent – the highest on record.

On average, adults in the UK with at least one credit card has £2,001 in credit card debt while the average household owes £2,438.

James Briggs, Head of Intermediary Sales at Together, said the group’s smaller loans may be able to help borrowers consolidate unsecured debt at a cheaper rate, allowing borrowers to take “greater control” of their household finances.

He said: “Many borrowers will have overspent on credit and store cards over the Christmas period, which will have put more pressure on household finances caused by the cost-of-living crisis which, thankfully, is showing signs of easing slightly.

Our smaller second charge loans will be available for broker’s clients, to help support them in moving away from more expensive lines of unsecured credit, to a secured loan, with a single, manageable monthly repayment and a product end date.

This may, for the right customer, give them greater control of their overall expenditure.

Our smaller loans may be suitable for customers who are finding it harder to qualify for further advances as high street banks tighten their criteria, or for people who currently have a low rate on their first charge mortgage, which they don’t want to disturb.

We hope to meet the ambitions of our broker partners by offering more options for clients seeking Together’s flexible product offering.”